So while winter bears down on us and S/V Lady Anne floats sleepily in her berth...I'm planning the "big trip" of the summer. The plan is to take her up-river to the Kingston side of Watts Bar for the 4th of July fireworks off Fort Southwest Point. The trip is about twenty-five miles, forced to motor most of the way since the lake narrows to pretty much the dredged channel a couple miles in that direction from the marina. I'm assuming a six to eight hour trip, one way.

When I arrive, I'm expecting a large number of other boats to be jockeying for space...the "marina" at the city dock is not set up for sailboats, the pier will undoubtedly be BUSY with trailercraft...so I'm certain to have to anchor.

Now, the last time I anchored anything, it was heavy-tonnage, in a charted anchorage, with lots of crew doing the hard part. This will be my first time setting anchor single-hand on a small sailing vessel.

Given that the area doesn't have designated anchorages, I wish to avoid a "swing circle", so I'm planning on setting both a bow and stern anchor. I'm not 100% certain I can fix a shoreline either.

Water depth here averages about 9 feet.

"Common Sense" and minimal knowledge has given me the following plan: Motor at a knot or two above bare steerageway towards the drop point, let go the bow anchor then continue until I've put out about a 4:1 ratio of scope (about 36-40 feet). When it "sets", go neutral, let the boat swing out to full scope, drop the stern anchor, then pull the bow anchor line in about 10 feet to reset a 3:1 ratio, and have about 18-20 feet of stern scope (app. 2:1 ratio).

I'm assuming I should have about 10-12 feet of chain on bow anchor, and no less than 10 feet on the stern.

Sir,with all due respect, where I sail a scope of 3:1 is barely a lunch hook.You will get as many different opinions as there are members here if everyone responds! LOL!Get a current "Chapmans" book and look it up. There you will get a very good place to start on proper anchoring.

I'd also strongly recommend you practice anchoring LONG before you need to anchor! I've watched so many folks fail and have even rescued a few who had no idea what to do.

Lastly when you do lower your anchor and rode, do not just toss it overboard! Do not let the rode free fall off the bow or stern of your boat. You'll end up with a pile of rode sitting on your anchor and most likely fouling it.

Let the anchor out slowly until it sets on the bottom. After the boat starts to slip down wind or current in the river, slowly lay out the anchor line at approximately the boat drift or speed if in reverse. After you have the scope you desire, preferably 7:1 including height above the water, cleat off the rode and set the anchor using reverse. Now if you desire you can drop the stern anchor in a similar fashion moving forward to the scope you deem appropriate.

Again, I can not stress enough. GO TRY IT! Practice more than once. If you do not get it or a feel for it get an experienced friend to assist a few times. Did I say go practice?

Oh yeah, be a responsible boater. Do not just go drop anchor on top of another boats anchor. Look at their rode. See if they have a stern line. If they swing and you don't . . . .

Perfect advice...exactly the details I was looking for. I learned a long time ago never to be offended by a wiser person's advice.

I'll (sheepishly) admit that I assumed a 7:1 scope (nearly 90+ feet in my case) seemed a bit high for Kingston (maybe three hundred yards wide?)...but that's why I asked; because the last thing I need is for the anchor angle to be too steep, and end up drifting into boats in the dark

One added detail...the night of the fireworks, we usually see at least a hundred craft on the river. I've never seen more than three sailboats at anchor, but the point is, it gets crowded. Your advice has me wondering if the more logical approach wouldn't be trying to make some "pals" and tie up alongside. Otherwise, I may end up with my anchor lines in someone's prop!

As regards practice...partly, this is why I'm researching in advance. My end of the lake is VERY deep (comparatively) at around 40-60'. However, we've some nice, wide, forgiving stretches that average around 12-20' in summer. I've got to master the technique anyway to get the most out of our waterways. S/V Lady Anne is kinda the "training boat" for moving up (or possibly down) to something better suited to making the trip down to the Gulf "someday".